Purpose

To critically examine the current literature on nursing faculty practice, using the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Guidelines for Evaluation of Faculty Practice, and to examine faculty practice models' strengths, weaknesses, and barriers.

Data sources

Thirty-five articles describing models of faculty practice were identified through an exhaustive search on CINAHL and Medline. Two NONPF monographs on nursing faculty practice were used as guidelines for the critical review.

Conclusions

Faculty practice has become an integral component of faculty-role expectations at many schools of nursing. Workload, especially without adequate compensation, remains a hindrance to practice. The value of faculty practice time and expertise has not been sufficiently demonstrated. Integration of practitioner, educator and researcher roles remains extremely difficult and sometimes elusive.

Implications for practice

Faculty practice offers many advantages to schools of nursing, including educational and research opportunities for faculty and students, as well as practice sites and affordable community healthcare. Providing health care in the community presents an opportunity for independent and collaborative practice. To fully utilize the great research opportunities provided by faculty practice, more emphasis must be placed on gathering and analyzing descriptive data.